Albert still in intensive care

Niels Albert remains in the Intensive Care Unit at the university clinic
in Gent, as his torn spleen continues to cause the cyclo-cross rider problems.
The 22-year-old crashed over the weekend while
warming up for the Superprestige race in Gavere, Belgium.

Alberts manager Christoph Roodhoort had earlier said that the young
Belgian was expected
to be out of the ICU on Monday. However Alberts spleen was still
bleeding. "The doctors didn't want to take any risks," Roodhoort
told Sporza.be.

The cyclo-cross rider was still having a lot of pain in his chest and
back, and felt poorly, Roodhoort said. "The spleen has to repair
itself, and that lasts several days," he said. "It is hoped
that Albert will be back on his bike in two weeks."

Niels said on Monday that he now must aim for the UCI World Cyclo-cross
Championships, scheduled for January 31 - February 1 in Hoogerheide, the
Netherlands. "His condition won't be that of the past few weeks,
but he will have time to build it up," said Roodhoort. "I think
it will work out."

It's an incredibly bad stroke of luck for the Belgian, whose breakthrough
season has been characterised by strong performances against the likes
of Sven Nys and Lars Boom, arguably the discipline's two best exponents.
He had been leading the Superprestige series before his crash, and looked
set to continue shaking up the world cup series, given his second
place in Pijnacker on November 9.

Nys still the Superprestige king

The long and short of Niels Albert's misfortune in Gavere is that Sven
Nys has lost of the prime contenders for his crown as the best rider in
European 'cross - for two weeks, anyway.

It's been refreshing for spectators, commentators and observers that
Albert has arrived as a major challenger to Nys in '08-09. Other competitors
have welcomed the pique in interest provided by the young Belgian's performances,
and many were upset to see him exit the scene for a temporary spell on
the sidelines following his crash and consequent broken spleen last weekend.

Albert and Nys had been tied on points heading into the third round of
the Superprestige series after the latter's stunning
win in Veghel-Eerde. After the Gavere event Nys holds a four-point
advantage over Sunweb's Klaas Vantornout, while Albert drops to fifth
in the rankings.

Vanthourenhout another casualty in Gavere

Sven Vanthourenhout was another rider to suffer misfortune in last weekend's
Superprestige 'cross in Gavere. A fall left him with no fractures but
some swelling as a result of ligament damage meant he was sore on Monday
morning.

"Only the capsule around the bones and joints of my wrist are damaged,"
the Sunweb rider told Sporza.be. "And because the ligaments
are concerned, my right hand is swollen." Vanthourenhout added that,
"I can continue to train, but for two practice sessions I'll wear
a protective brace."

It's not been a good season for the Belgian thus far - he remains in
the lower realms of the Superprestige series but is fairing better in
the world cup standings, lying in 17th after three rounds. His injuries
may hamper him a little physically, although he explained that, "My
program remains unchanged. Next Sunday I'll ride in Hamme-Zogge, then
I'll ride two races per weekend, starting with Koksijde and Gieten."

Where's Wellens? On the podium...

After an ordinary start to the 2008-09 'cross season, Bart Wellens made
the podium for the first time in the Superprestige
round held in Gavere. And judging by his description of the race,
only bad luck separated him standing on the top step of the dais rather
than the lower one.

"An 'old-fashioned cross' - that's the correct term," said
Wellens on his personal website, referring to the comment made by race
winner, countryman and long-time rival Sven Nys. "The course was
spectacular, sometimes dangerous... but that's the same for everyone and
individually we must decide how much risk we want to take."

Wellens explained that despite having some stunning form, bad luck hit
one of Belgium's best-loved and known riders. "The start was pretty
good, but just not great; the legs felt good immediately though, and therefore
I took the initiative fairly quickly. I knew that my condition was perfect
so I went for broke. I soon overcame the three strongest riders and I
felt the smoothness of my effort. It was at that time that I had bad luck
- my cable outside of the back gear split and I couldn't shift gear, so
I had to walk uphill and lost a lot of ground."

And with Sven Nys stamping his authority on the race, Wellens needed
to keep the current series leader in check. It was testament to his form
that the Fidea rider was able to stay in the race given his mechanical
misfortune. "I had to quickly close the gap, and I still wanted to
chase the victory," said Wellens. "But after the mechanical
it was a bit too much."

And if his cable troubles weren't bad enough, Wellens explained the next
piece of bad luck he was to suffer. "Everyone thought I had the form,
although some mud in my eyes decided the outcome for me. At the foot of
the last climb I sat on the wheel of Sven and rode a full 10 metres without
sight; my eyes were completely full, I missed the track and came into
contact with the crowd. Nys grabbed 10 metres and he was gone."

Compton's Euro odyssey pays off

One week after her convincing performance during the cyclo-cross World
Cup in The Netherlands, Katie Compton captured the first win of her
European campaign in Gavere,
Belgium last weekend. The current US national champion managed to
overcome trying conditions and beat accomplished Dutch rider Daphny van
den Brand and Belgium's Sanne Cant in a breakthrough for American riders
racing in Europe this season.

Compton struggled to find traction during the first lap on the extremely
muddy course in East Flanders, where rain had reshaped the steep hill
into a slippery slide. "After Pijnacker this was the first muddy
'cross of the season, so I had to adapt a little," said Compton.
"At the start line I noticed that everybody was using more profiled
tyres than me," she added. She soon found out why that was the case.
"It was like an ice skating ring out there. During the first lap
I touched ground and couldn't ride up the hill."

Despite getting reasonable start, Compton was worried about her prospects
for the remainder of the race. "I was riding in fifth position and
I wasn't happy with that, but I thought I could blame it on the less-profiled
tyres I was using," she explained. The American showed excellent
technical prowess on the Belgian course; she was fearless on the steep
and slippery downhill sections, opting against using the drops. It worked.
"Steadily I was going better and I started moving up while others
clearly struggled. I ended up leading with Daphny [van den Brand] for
half a lap but then she got dropped," said Compton.

Who can beat Luna?

After going one-two
for both races of the Mercer Cup last weekend in New Jersey, Luna
riders Georgia Gould and Katerina Nash have proven themselves an intimidable
force for the remainder of the season. On November 15 and 16 they battled
the engorging mud of Mercer County Park after heavy rain and came out
on top.

The likes of Wendy Simms, Mo Bruno-Roy and Natasha Elliot never really
got a look in as Gould and Nash countered each other to share the series
leader's jersey, while Gould took both wins on offer. Gould explained
the position the duo found themselves in, and how it worked to the advantage
of the team. "Katerina and I want Luna to be on the top of the USGP."

That's not to say personal ambitions don't go totally unchecked, however.
"I would prefer it was me and Katerina would prefer that it were
her. But the second best thing is to have your team-mate up there. We
work really well together but once it's down to just the two of us, we
don't cut each other any slack."

Powers tops USA Cycling's standings

The USGP of Cyclo-cross continued with the two Mercer Cup races last
weekend, the 26th and 27th races on the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National
Calendar. Tim Johnson took the elite men's race on Saturday while Todd
Wells came out on top during Sunday's muddy affair in Mercer County Park.
Luna teammates Georgia Gould and Katerina Nash dominated the elite women's
events and went one-two in both races.

Current standings after 27 contests on the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross
National Calendar: